Public-offer comparison · checked/reviewed September 18, 2026
Profound vs VisiScan: AI Visibility Features and Pricing Compared
Compare Profound and VisiScan on AI visibility tracking: engines covered, methodology, reporting, and public pricing, with dated sources and a link to Peec AI vs VisiScan.
This page helps evaluators who already have Profound on a shortlist compare it with VisiScan on engines, methodology transparency, prompt control, reporting, pricing clarity, and fit. VisiScan publishes the page and has a commercial interest. No accuracy winner is claimed. Competitor offers change. Verify dollars and plan scope on the vendor site before you buy.
Short answer: Profound positions itself as a broader AI marketing and answer-engine platform with trial and enterprise packaging. VisiScan is a measurement-first AI visibility scanner with a free baseline, a $49 one-time full report, and $29/month Monitor. Pick by workflow depth and commitment size, not by a fake universal score.
Who this compare is for
Use this page if you are:
- Evaluating Profound for brand monitoring, answer-engine insights, or agentic marketing workflows
- Looking for a clearer mid-market alternative with inspectable answer evidence and published self-serve pricing
- Deciding whether you need an enterprise operating platform or a dated diagnostic plus light recurring monitoring
This is not a bid to rank first for the brand query "profound ai." Brand SERPs for Profound are navigational and often mix the vendor site with funding and news coverage. The job here is comparison intent for people already comparing tools.
For adjacent shortlists, see Peec AI vs VisiScan and the full comparison hub. Buying-guide context lives in Best AI visibility tools and LLM SEO tools.
Snapshot criteria table
Criteria below describe public product framing. They are not a scored winner matrix.
| Criterion | Profound (public docs, Sept 18, 2026) | VisiScan (live /pricing and /methodology, Sept 18, 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Primary job | AI marketing platform: Answer Engine Insights, prompt volumes, agent analytics, AI Marketer / Agents workflows | Measurement-first AI visibility: free scan, one-time full report, weekly Monitor |
| Engines (public) | Trial: ChatGPT only. Enterprise: capability listed for up to 9 answer engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, DeepSeek, Anthropic Claude, Google AI Overviews, Exa Search). Confirm the exact bundle in your quote. | Up to four configured provider APIs: ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini. Completed coverage appears in the report. |
| Methodology transparency | Vendor product pages describe insights, tracking, and agents. Ask how answers are sampled and stored on your plan. | Published methodology: buyer-intent questions, repeats, mention / recommendation / citation labels, dated observations |
| Prompt control | Trial: 10 unique prompts, one-time. Enterprise: tailored prompt tracking (often described as daily on paid enterprise packaging). Editable sets and multi-region options are enterprise topics to confirm. | Free: 5 questions. Full report: 12 questions x up to 4 engines x 3 samples. Monitor re-runs the full scan weekly. |
| Reporting | Answer Engine Insights, competitive analysis, agent analytics, exports/API on enterprise packaging (verify). | Inspectable answers, competitor mentions, citations, readiness checks, and a transparent visibility score |
| Pricing clarity | Public page emphasizes Trial (Free) and Enterprise (Custom). Earlier self-serve Starter/Growth dollar figures may no longer match. Verify on tryprofound.com/pricing. | Free scan $0. Full report $49 one-time. Monitor $29/month. See pricing. |
| Fit | Teams operationalizing AI search insights and marketing agents at scale, often with SSO and dedicated support | Local businesses, SMBs, and agencies that want a dated baseline and affordable monitoring before a larger platform commit |
No row awards points. Price alone is not a normalized workload comparison. Products count prompts, answers, credits, projects, and surfaces differently.
Engines and measurement depth
What Profound publicly describes
As of the September 18, 2026 fetch of Profound's pricing page and product framing on tryprofound.com:
- Trial (Free): limited AI Marketer credits, 10 prompts run once, ChatGPT only
- Enterprise (Custom): tailored packages for companies operationalizing AI search insights and running marketing agents at scale, with AI Marketer credits for the team, tailored prompt tracking, up to 9 answer engines tracked, dedicated support, and SSO/SAML plus SOC 2 compliance called out on the public page
- Product surfaces named in public navigation and pricing copy include Answer Engine Insights, Prompt Volumes, Shopping, Agent Analytics, AI Marketer, Agents, and Context Manager
Enterprise engine capability lists on the pricing page include ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, DeepSeek, Anthropic Claude, Google AI Overviews, and Exa Search. That is a capability list for enterprise packaging, not proof that every contract includes every engine.
Market awareness only: brand SERPs for Profound often surface funding and news coverage alongside the vendor site. Treat funding headlines as market context, not as product performance claims.
What VisiScan measures
VisiScan samples buyer-intent questions across up to four configured models (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini). It records whether the business is mentioned, recommended, or cited, which competitors appear, and which sources are linked. Full reports add repeated samples and readiness checks. Results are dated observations of a changing system, not permanent rankings. Details: methodology and Monitor.
Agency teams that need client-facing baselines can start from AI visibility for agencies.
Pricing and packaging (dated)
Profound public offer (re-fetched September 18, 2026)
| Package | Displayed price | What the public page emphasizes |
|---|---|---|
| Trial | Free | Limited AI Marketer credits. 10 prompts once. ChatGPT only. |
| Enterprise | Custom | Tailored prompt plan. Up to 9 answer engines. Team credits. Dedicated support. SSO/SAML + SOC 2. |
Stale figure softener: An earlier September 9-12, 2026 capture of public materials listed self-serve Starter at $99/month billed yearly (50 prompts, ChatGPT, Agents credits) and Growth at $399/month billed yearly (100 prompts, three answer engines). Those dollar figures do not appear on the September 18, 2026 public pricing page, which now leads with Trial Free and Enterprise Custom. Do not treat Starter/Growth dollars as current. Re-check tryprofound.com/pricing and ask Profound for a written quote for your engine and prompt scope.
VisiScan public offer (verified September 18, 2026)
| Plan | Price | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Free scan | $0 | 5 buyer questions x up to 4 configured models |
| Full report | $49 one-time | 12 questions x up to 4 models x 3 samples, with answer provenance and fix plan |
| Monitor | $29/month | Automatic weekly re-scans and trends |
Confirm current detail on pricing. Free readiness tools that only check crawl or file readiness do not call AI models. The full scan does.
Verify before buying (either vendor)
- Which answer engines are included in the quoted tier
- Prompt limits, sample frequency, and credit burn for agent features
- Annual commitment, renewal, and seat terms
- Whether consumer chat UIs and API samples are distinguished in reporting
- Export, API, and multi-brand workspace needs
Who should pick which
| Situation | Lean toward |
|---|---|
| You need an enterprise AI marketing operating system with agents, SSO, and a custom multi-engine contract | Shortlist Profound and request a demo / quote |
| You want a dated cross-engine baseline and site diagnostic at a small initial commitment | Start with VisiScan free scan or $49 full report |
| You need affordable weekly re-measurement of the same buyer panel | VisiScan Monitor at $29/month |
| You are comparing recurring mid-market prompt analytics platforms | Also read Peec AI vs VisiScan |
| You need SEO-suite AI modules inside Semrush or Ahrefs | See Semrush AI Visibility vs VisiScan and Ahrefs Brand Radar vs VisiScan |
| You are weighing agent-delivery platforms | See Scrunch vs VisiScan |
VisiScan is not positioned as the "#1 Profound alternative." It is a measurement-focused option with published self-serve pricing for teams that do not need the full Profound operating stack yet.
Related: Peec AI vs VisiScan
Peec AI is a common sibling shortlist for recurring prompt analytics. Profound's own content library has reviewed Peec in the past, and third-party reviews often discuss both brands. For a Peec-specific public-offer compare, use Peec AI vs VisiScan. Do not treat this Profound page as a full Profound-vs-Peec article. After you know whether you need enterprise agents, mid-market daily analytics, or a one-time diagnostic, return to the compare hub.
FAQ
What is Profound AI used for?
Profound markets itself as an AI platform for marketing teams that want answer-engine insights, prompt research, agent analytics, and AI Marketer / Agents workflows. Public packaging currently emphasizes a free Trial and custom Enterprise plans. Confirm current scope on tryprofound.com.
How does VisiScan differ from Profound?
Profound's public story centers on a broader AI marketing and agent operating workflow, with enterprise packaging for multi-engine tracking at scale. VisiScan centers on measurement: a free cross-engine baseline, a $49 one-time diagnostic with inspectable answers, and $29/month weekly Monitor. VisiScan publishes its methodology. It does not claim to replace Profound's full agent and enterprise stack.
Is there a cheaper Profound alternative for AI visibility tracking?
For teams whose job is measurement rather than an enterprise agent platform, VisiScan's published $0 / $49 / $29 offers are typically a smaller initial commitment than a custom enterprise quote. That does not make VisiScan a universal substitute or a ranked "#1 alternative." Compare required engines, prompt volume, reporting, and workflow depth. Also review Peec AI vs VisiScan and Best AI visibility tools. Always verify Profound's current public and quoted prices.
Does VisiScan track the same AI engines as Profound?
Not identically. VisiScan's primary scan coverage is up to four configured models: ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini. Profound's public Trial is ChatGPT-only. Profound's Enterprise packaging advertises capability for up to nine answer engines, including surfaces VisiScan does not treat as primary scan engines (for example Google AI Overviews). Overlap exists on major chat engines at enterprise scope. Exact parity depends on the Profound quote and on which VisiScan models complete in a given report.
Commercial interest and limits
This page compares current public documentation. VisiScan publishes it and has a commercial interest. We did not purchase Profound or run a normalized accuracy test against it. No performance winner is claimed. Re-check vendor pricing on the day you buy.
Next steps
- Run a free VisiScan scan for a dated cross-engine baseline.
- Confirm VisiScan plans on pricing or recurring coverage on Monitor.
- Verify Profound's live offer on tryprofound.com/pricing.
- Browse other compares: Peec AI, Scrunch, Semrush AI Visibility, Ahrefs Brand Radar, or the full compare hub.
- For category research, see Best AI visibility tools and LLM SEO tools. Agency workflow: for agencies.
Sources (dated)
- Profound pricing and product framing: tryprofound.com/pricing and tryprofound.com (fetched September 18, 2026)
- Prior public Starter $99 / Growth $399 notes: earlier September 9-12, 2026 captures (treated as potentially stale)
- VisiScan pricing and methodology (checked September 18, 2026)
- Live compare page baseline before refresh: https://www.visiscan.app/compare/profound (checked September 12, 2026 publish metadata)